European healthcare systems have been slow to digitize as demand for telemedicine and telehealth services has soared around the world in recent years, hampering growth of the region’s digital healthcare market.
According to Kalle Conneryd-Lundgren, COO at pan-European HealthTech firm Kry, one of the main challenges is how high-level national or cross-national regulatory frameworks are interpreted on a local level, a difficult undertaking which requires engaging regulators on all levels — “and that is sometimes valuable, sometimes very frustrating,” he told PYMNTS in an interview.
There has been some progress, however, with Conneryd-Lundgren pointing to a pan-European initiative to regulate sensitive patient-related data as a step in the right direction. “But that’s just the start of it. I can’t say that we’ve seen a lot materializing around new technical solutions or new guidelines being put to paper across Europe.”
One particular area where regulation has been slow is around artificial intelligence (AI). In fact, as PYMNTS recently reported, EU lawmakers are at odds over various facets of the proposed AI Act, considered the most comprehensive piece of legislation on the technology to date.
The U.K., on the other hand, doesn’t yet have any AI regulation in sight, but earlier this year the government launched a new AI Standard Hub as part of its National AI Strategy aimed at increasing the U.K. contribution to development of global AI technical standards.
For Conneryd-Lundgren, these two diverging paths further complicate the regulatory challenge for businesses like Kry operating across the region. “The U.K. is not necessarily aligned with the EU and that creates a high risk of a mismatch, perhaps not in the overall intent but in the specificities around how this is governed and regulated across Europe and the U.K.,” he explained.
When it comes to the potential of AI to transform industries, Conneryd-Lundgren said the healthcare sector comes up top on the list.
“I will go as far as saying that I can’t see any sector that has the same sort of embedded potential as healthcare in terms of using large language models or generative AI like ChatGPT,” he noted. “It’s really ripe for solving a lot of problems within the sector.”
And while it will not come down to replacing clinicians or processes with AI, he said the technology can simplify the complex processes patients have to navigate, such as determining where to find the appropriate care, without having to roam the length and breadth of the healthcare system.
“That is where these models can help break down data and help patients [easily] consume large amounts of data around what healthcare providers can do and cannot do for them,” he explained further. “That is one of the things where we can see an enormous effect on efficiency if we implement AI in healthcare.”
He added that most healthcare processes, from how to transfer types of information to ensuring that safety protocols around patients’ visits are in place, are still done manually today, costing providers significant amounts of time and resources. It’s another area where the application of AI models can be tremendously useful, he said.
“I think that it will be hard for any healthcare provider not to utilize AI in the long term. You simply won’t be effective [without it].”
While technology has expanded opportunities in healthcare delivery like never before, Conneryd-Lundgren said connecting the dots and integrating digital and physical care into one is critical for growth.
“More and more people have come to realize that there is no such thing as digital care and physical care. Almost all care episodes will be digital and/or physical at different steps in the patient’s journey. Both are needed,” he said.
And in merging the two, he said the Stockholm-based digital healthcare company will continue tackling the lack of patient focus in healthcare across its markets, particularly when it comes to chronic diseases requiring continuous care like obesity, care for elderly patients and women’s health, an often-overlooked area where it can take years to get the right diagnosis.
Overall, Kry’s business growth is on an upward trend, Conneryd-Lundgren said, pointing to a 30% year-over-year compounded growth in the firm’s capitated business. The company, which operates under the brand name Kry in Sweden and Norway and Livi in the U.K. and France, has also delivered over 200 million patient interactions since it launched in 2014, making it one of Europe’s largest digital healthcare providers.
But he acknowledged that the digital healthcare provider has been affected by ongoing market conditions, a likely cause behind its decision to pull out of the German market in November of last year.
Conneryd-Lundgren remains optimistic, however, pinning his hopes on Kry’s ability to adapt in challenging times: “We’re more agile and have an easier time to adapt to our surroundings and situations [we find ourselves in].”
It also boils down to capturing the right demand amid endless demand for its digital services, he added. “That’s why we are entering these chronic diseases and these fields of medicine and healthcare which are underserved. That’s where we believe we can do most for our patients and most for the healthcare system as such.”
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